The Shree Swaminarayan Temple construction

It was a pleasure to attend a visit to the Shree Swaminarayan Temple construction site with council leader Cllr Arooj Shah this week.

It has been two years since we met at the new temple site on Copster Hill Road at the ground-breaking ceremony in 2019.

However, when Covid hit it led to delays in the project. Contractors started on the site in July 2020, and work has been progressing at high speed; they aim to have the property watertight by September, with the opening planned for July 2022.

The quality of the materials, the attention to detail and the thought put into the facilities, which will include a community hall for all events including sports is impressive. This will undoubtedly be a landmark building which will serve the Indian community and beyond for generations to come.

Well done to all involved.

Safer Communities

This morning I met with Chief Inspector Trevor Harrison from Oldham Police Station today to discuss concerns raised with me about youth violence and knife crime following a number of high-profile incidents in the constituency.

The data shows there has been a recent spike in knife related incidents, though broadly it appears to be following the same path as the previous years.

Throughout my near 20 years in public service in Oldham there has always been an undercurrent of ‘turf battles’ between different areas, and that this can spike into serious incidents. This appears to explain the most recent incidents and I am pleased the police have an operation, codenamed Operation Cayman to address this, so far identifying around 25 young people involved, or on the edge of criminal activity.

It is vital we set out the path crime can take, and how young people can get drawn into trouble and quickly escalate into crime and the justice system. For too many opportunities and inspiration is in short supply and it is for all of us to work to put this right.

I am concerned that young people are being brought into criminality and the justice system through drugs and gang related activity. The control and use of drugs in the community is a constant battle, and it is important we address it with the seriousness it deserves. Beyond this, the whole system must work together and ensure young people do not fall in between the gaps, and I’ll be doing more work on this in the coming months.

Vaccinations on Limeside

Our #nhs workers are amazing, working around the clock to deliver the vaccine roll out – literally come rain or shine!

It was a pleasure to meet the mobile team at St Chads, Limeside, and to be talked through the work they do. At this centre residents can access the Pfizer vaccine.

They are here until 7pm this evening and back on Monday 12-7pm. No appointment needed 📣

Street Angels

I took the opportunity to meet with the wonderful volunteers at Oldham Street Angels to see the work they do to help homeless people in our community.

Homeless people too often fall through the cracks and have complex problems. I heard many personal stories and it is clear to me that if we fail to support people to get back on track and live a stable and productive life, we always pay more as a society in the end. Meanwhile more lives are ruined as a consequence of not taking joined up and meaningful action.

The project supports anyone who presents and does so without judgement, and without fear or favour. They just want to show that society doesn’t turn its back on people when times get hard.

Although they routinely signpost people to seek further support and they do offer advice, they are deliberately not replicating formal public services, or that which requires professional support beyond its volunteer base. The group have received support from Mayor Andy Burnham’s homeless scheme, as well as locally though the health authority and council, and kind public donations too.

They are represented significantly by local faith groups who work together as a network to bring volunteers together and add capacity.

The group also provide night-time support on a Friday and Saturday to support the night-time economy, ensuring visitors are kept safe. It was for this and other work they were awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service, which is billed as the MBE for groups.

Keep up the good work!

Two Years of Lockdown in Kashmir

Oldham is home to thousands of Kashmir heritage people, though it is thousands of miles away for those who have family connections it is something which matters a great deal.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights found breaches in both Pakistan and India administered territory. While the UN reported that Pakistan had accepted the findings and agreed steps to investigated, the Indian government dismissed it out of hand.

The greatest concern remains that in Indian controlled Kashmir, human rights abuses, suppression, and limitations on freedoms. Today marks the second anniversary of the 2019 lockdown and media block out and it is an important day for a number of constituents.

As a local MP it is right that we make representations to Government through the Foreign Office on international relations and I will continue to do so together with my fellow Oldham MP Debbie Abrahams.

40 Years of Oldham Play Action Group

The sun was shining on Royton Park this afternoon as Oldham Play Action Group present a special Thank You to Rose, who founded the group 40 years ago.

They’ve done so much for our community and today easily over a thousand youngsters and parents attended throughout the course of the day.

The day was possible because of the great support from councillors for the event.

Greater Manchester Co-operatives are thriving

Today I spent the morning visiting some new co-operatives in Greater Manchester, it was fantastic to see how these enterprises are thriving even during hard times.

As Chair of the Co-operative Party I was keen to get out and visit co-ops within our movement to see how they were getting by and to highlight the great work of enterprise within our collective movement.

We need more co-ops to help build a fairer economic and social settlement for everyone.

Many thanks to the Chorlton Bike Delivery Co-op for talking me through your plans for development and to the Carbon Co-op and People Powered Retrofit for hosting me and showing off your model house!

You can read a more in depth blog post from me here on the Co-operative Party’s website: https://party.coop/2021/08/06/co-operatives-arent-just-surviving-in-this-crisis-they-are-thriving/

Mantra Learning and HGV Diver Shortages…

Had a fantastic time visiting the National Logistics Academy at Mantra Learning yesterday morning to see the brilliant work they’re doing to combat the huge HGV driver shortage that we face.

It’s clear that the Government should be doing much more to combat the driver shortage and come up with a clear plan that doesn’t just move a bottle neck from one part of the sector to another.

Yesterday I heard about how the Government’s plans to recruit more examiners means that places like Mantra are at risk of losing their highly skilled instructors.